Weather conditions have set us back, but last week provided a tantalizing taste of spring. Unseasonably warm weather raised inshore water temperatures into the low 70s and sparked a hot snook bite from New Port Richey to Clearwater.

Perhaps the biggest factor in the rally was the appearance of baitfish along the beaches. Huge numbers of scaled sardines, Spanish sardines and threadfin herring appeared along the coast, and they were easily located by the presence of diving pelicans and gannets. Huge schools of baitfish are common in March and April but are rare this time of year.

As the bait moved in, snook crept out of their winter hideaways to feed in warm shallows nearby. A quick run to the beach for bait and a return trip to snook holes produced lots of big fish.

Big baits seemed to work best, even for smaller fish. Even very large threadfins were attacked by hungry snook.

Colder temperatures the past few days have sent the bait offshore and the snook back into deep backwaters, but the bite will be on again when water temperatures reach the 70s.

-- Ed Walker charters out of Palm Harbor. Call (727) 944-3474 or e-mail TarponEd@aol.com.

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